The Aftermath of Embarrassment
by all continues to be well
Summary: actbw: a sequel to 'Bright Red In The Face' in which Louis tells his friends the news about Othello.


"Apparently Scamander is gay."

"Which Scamander? The Hufflepuff?"

"No, Othello. The one Roxanne is friends with. She just told me," Louis murmured. He still appeared to be in somewhat of a daze as he still tried to process the news. He just couldn't work out how he had never realised it before. (The embarrassment he was ignoring for now).

"And?" Penny mused. Her eyes remained staring at her book. "What does it matter to us?"

Dramatically Louis plopped himself down on the seat besides his friend, slumming his head upon her shoulder. It would be a boring train ride back to school if Penny was going to be so introverted. Where on earth were the rest of their friends when Louis needed them to play audience to his antics?

The youngest of the Gamp sisters continued to do a good job of ignoring the dynamic boy as she instead just continued to read. It wasn't that Penny was uninterested in what Louis had to say, only that the pair had had an on-off relationship for three years now. In Penny's mind this meant they were pretty much married so she didn't need to make a pretence of being interested in everything he had to say anymore.

"Does it not bother you that none of us ever realised Othello was gay before?" he nevertheless persisted.

"No. We had no reason to."

Louis removed his head from her shoulder, pressing his lips together in thought – an expression he had (much to his own despair) picked up from his cousin Molly who seemed to have her lips permanently pressed together in frustration. "He does keep his part of the room miraculously tidy though…"

"Goodness, then we should have noticed it the second he walked in! I'm surprised he doesn't have a badge telling everyone that he likes boys." Penny's voice was quite characteristically full of sarcasm.

Louis got the hint and shut up but only for the moment as he tried to work out how to get Penny's attention.

"Your hair looks lovely today."

That had her putting down her book. The Gamps were all somewhat vain. "Dianna did it this morning."

"It suits you; you should wear it like that more often."

Such a small comment made Penelope smile. "Perhaps I will. I-"

The arrival of their friend Alf Milford walking into the carriage interrupted whatever Penny was going to stay. He carried with him in his hand a flask of tea, whilst peering out of the pocket of his tattered jacket were a pair of thick socks.

"Here you go, Pen," Alf began, thrusting the flask into Penelope's hands.

"You don't want it?"

"Nah, she made bloody Earl Grey again. Honest to god I think Mum's going barmy. What sort of sick sod forces someone to drink that posh muck?"

With a huff, Alfred sat down across from Penny and Louis, took off his shoes and applied the thick, woolly socks from his pocket on top of the ones he was already wearing. He had done this every year since second year so neither Penny or Louis took any surprise from seeing it. Instead Penny just began to drink the tea and Louis returned to thinking about the mystery which was Othello Scamander.

"Alf, you didn't know Scamander was gay, did you?"

"The Hufflepuff?"

"No, the one we share a dorm with."

"Scamander's gay? You don't think he fancies any of us, do you?"

Penelope glared at Alf for that. Honestly, why was she a friend to these boys? "Just because he's attracted to boys doesn't mean he will fancy one of you lot. He is actually quite smart from what I can tell – if he fancies any of you lot I'd be thoroughly surprised."

"Are you saying we're undesirable to anyone with intelligence, mon cher?" Louis retorted, putting an arm around her.

Penny's pale cheeks turned into a deep blush.

"Don't turn this around to make me flatter you, Louis. I won't do it."

"It was worth a try."

"You two are sickening," Alfred groaned. He turned to look out of his window with a hint of desperation that one of their other friends might appear. "Where on earth are the other lot? If I had known I'd be stuck with Romeo and Juliet I'd have spent longer saying goodbye to my mum. That torture is surely better than watching you two flirting with each other."

With her blush firmly in tact still, Penny tried to return her concentration to her book. "I've told you before Alf: Louis and I can't take offense if you use muggle references. Besides if you think that's flirting I despair for whatever poor girl you end up with."

"And Penny and I aren't going out anymore," Louis added. His arm remained around Penny's shoulders though.

"Again? Are you fucking joking? How long is it going to last this time?"

If anyone were to look into the carriage whilst this conversation was occurring, they would see that both Louis and Penelope looked very bored. Their relationship had been the constant brunt of jokes over the years to the point that they just greeted it with silence now. It seemed the most effective way of not prolonging the incredulous comments of their friends.

The rest of the train journey was rather uneventful. Each time someone joined the compartment, Louis would announce to them that Othello was gay and each time Penny would reprimand him for spreading such news. "How do you know that he wants everyone to know?" she would stress. "He could be keeping it quiet for a reason!"

Louis thought that Penny must just be in a bad mood due to their break up. She always went through a stroppy period with him for about a week after he finished with her. Besides, he did not understand why Othello wouldn't want everyone to know what he liked boys. It seemed an odd thing to hide in Louis' confident opinion. Louis himself had always announced that his sexuality could not be easily defined; claiming that he was fell in love with the person not the sex and no one had ever given him any issue for that. What would be so bad about being seen as to be gay? The question bugged Louis for the rest of the journey. If Penny was right and not just being moody then perhaps what Othello needed was someone to help him boost his confidence a bit; make him feel proud to be whatever he was.

And, with an excited smile, Louis decided that he most definitely had the expertise to be that someone. (Plus, he figured he could abuse Roxanne's relationship with the boy in order to help).


End file.
